Mowing-machine.



{STANKUS,x MOWING MACHINE.

APPLIGATIOH FILED MAR 14, 1912.

Patented NOV. 26, 19112.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

am; I 5

Inventor 0 Attorneys J. STANKUS. mowin MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOE E'ILED MAR. 14, 1912, L 4 Y Patemed E0126, 1912.

4 2 SHEETS*SHEET 2.

Inventor Attorneys MQ'WING-MACHINE.

misses.

Specification of Letters Extent,

implication filed March 1 1912. Serial. l lo. 653,6?6.

ITT

it? all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SrANKUs, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Portage, in the county ofCernbrie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulllloWing-illechine, of which the following is e specification.

This invention relates to mowing inachines, one of its objects being toprovide it motor propelled vehicle having a. centrally supported fingerher and sickle in front thereof and which is adapted to be moved forwardby the vehicle sons to out the vegetation in the path thereof, meansbeing em. ployed for deflecting the material beyond the path of themotor vehicle.

Another object is to provide means whereby the finger bar and sickle canhe quickly elevated by the'operator so as to pass .over a stump or anyother obstruction in the path there i.

Another object is to provide a finger bar and sickle which can e-djustedto any desired angle relative to the path of movement of themeclninisni.

A further object is to provide an elongated finger her and sickle whichcan be adjusted close to the sides of the vehicle when in use so as tooccupy the minie while the machine is being 0 or from tie field.

l'fifjw" "id ith the for and other objects in l w v non will appear asthe description the invention resides in the can n and arrangement oi?parts and in he details of construction hereinafter decribed andclaimed, it being understood "hat changes in the precise embodiment ofhe invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of What isclaimed, Without departing from the s irit of the invention.

in the uccoinoenying drawings the preferred fiorni of ie invention hasbeen shown.

wm nt-Hu -1' 1. '1,

in s to d: ii tings, i. iguie r is ,i pen \ucu of a, machine embodyingthe present 1111- proveinents the end portions oi: the hugger bar endsicltlc being broken away and the rear portion of the motor vehiclebeing 1e 59 moved, the position. of the finger liar and sic. whenadjusted to one side of the vehicle being indicated by dotted lines.Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section oi the.parts shown in llig. l. Fi 3 is an enlarged front elevation cl? h,olntiorni supportand guide, parts living shown in section, endthe upperends of the heft end hangers being broken nevi-i Fig, i is e perspectiveview of one portion of the cross bar carried by the support. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the platform actuating lever and adjacent parts. 6is a perspective view of portion of the sickle and showing the niceroperating the some from the drive sheiti Fig. 7 is an enlargedtransverse section through it portion of the finger be]? and showing oneof the supporting casters. 8 is e perspcctiv view of the front endportion the plottorin with the finger our removed therefrom.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates thebody of a motor vehicle, the motor being indicated at 2. This motor isprovided with a drive gear 3 adapted to transmit motion, through a gear4-, to a shaft having a sprocket 6 thereon. This sprocket transmitsmotion through a chain 7 and sprockets 8 end 9 to a drive chain 10whereby the vehicle may be propelled forwardly or buckwordly as desired.

A. gear ll is secured to shaft 5 and meshes with another gear 12 whichis loose on :i shaft 18. A. clutch 1% is provided whereby this gear canbe coupled to the shaft 13 whenever desired. A 15 is secured to theshaft 13 and meshes with another 16 secured. to it vertical shaft 17..This vertical slnti't is provided with a sprocket 18 which engages aforwardly extending chain lllextendiug through the front end of thevehicle oody l and engaging :1 sprocket 20. This last named sprocket issecured to a vertical shaft 21 the it W61 cud ol" which is jouruuledwithin a. cross bar 22. This her has trunnions 23 at its endspivot-Lilly inouuted within hangers 53 which, as shown at 25, urepivotally connected to forwardly extendlug supporting strips 26 carriedby the front end of the hotly l. Addition-(Ll strips 2? extend'lorwurdly from the hotly uml shove the strips ill and have slotstherein through which the upper ends oi the hangers 2i Pltljilut, suitlhangers being thus guided um] held against lulcrul oscillation. it is tolie .uiulerstood, however, that the hangers are free to swing forwardlyor rcorwurdly when necessary.

A guide llClHl 28 is supported above the guide strip 27 uml is heldlixetlly liy downu'milly diverging logs ill) and 30, the legs l beingsecured to the sides oi. the body 1 adjacent its front end while thelegs 30-are strips.

secured to the forwa'rd ends of the 26. The upper portionof shaft 21- ismounted to slide and rotate within the'head28.

4 A cap 31 is secured to the upper end of the shaft 21 and'a. hook, 32has one end swiveled Within this cap. Theotherend of I A standard 36 ismounted on, the vehicle body and has outstanding of which is adapted tobe engaged by lever 35 whereby thesaid lever can be held at any angle tothe body l. A cross bar 3 is loosely mounted on the lower portion ofshaft 21 and'has forked ends 39 slidably engaging and v the hangers 24:.Mounted on this bar 38 'is a platform 40 on which is journaled a fortionof shaft 21. Rods '44: converge upswardly extending shaft 41 located atthe center of the-platform and provided with a gear 42. ThlS gear mesheswith another gear 43 which is feathered on the lower p'or wardlyfromlthe corners of' the platform LO and are secured, :attheir upperends, to a head 45 which is 'slidably mounted on the shaft 21 at'a pointbelow the head 28. The

' forward end of lever is connected to the front of the platform bydownwardly 'diverging lifting rods 46.. v j:

-of-the front end ofiplatform 40 a'ndis en gaged by the middle portionof a finger bar 48 which extends laterally beyond the sides of theplatform andis-providedwith one or more sections 49 hingedlyj connectedthereto as indicated at 50. Casters 5l support the-sections of thefinger bar, each caster being mounted'in. a rearwardly extending tongue52 projecting from the finger bar as shown particularly in Fig. 7. A

, sickle 53 made up ofsections det-achably connected, as at 54, ismounted on the finger bar and a pitman 55 connects one of the sectionsof the sickle toa crank 56 arranged I at the front end of the shaft 41.v Cables 57 are secured to the middle section of the finger bar 48 atpoints beyond the sides of the platform and extend upwardly past theguide sheaves 58 thence to a drum 59. This drum is mounted loosely onthe upper portion of shaft -17 and maybe rotated bymeans of a crank 60secured to it.

A V-shaped deflecting shield 61 is mount- .ed on the front portion ofthe latform 40 and is designed to deflect latera ly the vegetation cutby the middle portion of the sickle .so that the vehicle which isropelling the cutting mechanism can pass r ole-are Q y along a Path!'fing'er bar and through openings 63 in the Iman 55, shaft 41 beingdrivenfbygears 42 stops 37 any one and it will be obvious that asthegrain or. grass'is cut it will fall that portionthereof in front ofthe platform 40 being shifted laterally by the shield til-. Should anobstruction of the sickle, 'wardly on the rear end oflever 35. The hook.34: constitutes the fulcrum of this le-I' ;ver and, therefore, the frontend of the le--- :ver will pull upwardly on the rods 46 and :.cause theplatform 40 to slide 11 wardly along the shaft 21, the gear 43, shaf-i=ger bar and sickle moving with the volatform. As soon as theobstruction has een' passed the parts can be lowered and the oporationwill continue as before; f apparent that by placing lever 35 in.engagement. with a. selected stop 37, the platform :40 can'be maintainedat any elevation de a I isired.

. A pivot bolt 47 is mounted at the center straddling shown by dottedlines in noeaeer It will be understood that the fin'ger bar 48 can'beheld against swinging movement in any suitable manner, as by means oflook ing pins or bolts 62 extending through the front portion of theplatform d0. With the parts thus held "and the vehicle moving forward,it will be seen that the sickle will be re'ciprocated by crank 56 andpiston and pit-- and-43 from the'shaft 21. This last name-d shaft isrotated by chain 19 andsprocket 20 and said chain is propelled by themechav msmunder control of clutchil h The'finger bar and sickle can beof any length desired.

over the finger bar,

appear in the path (the operator can push down- It is to be understoodthat wheniit isdei sired to shift the finger b'ar'and sickle rela- ,tiveto the platform,the pins -62 are first removed after which the drum 59is rotated; The cables57 will'thns be actuated so as to swing the fingerbar relative to the' platform. Furthermore, if desired, the platform canbe swung upon the shaft 21 as a fulcrum, as Fi 1. The finger bar andsickle can be held chagonally of the being moved-to or from a field andunder these conditions, the hinged sections of the the vehicle ifdesired.-

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a motor pro pelled vehicle,of a mowing machanisrn finger bar can be folded inwardly against lo sin; path of the machine while the machine is pivotally supported at itscenter in front-of and extending laterally beyond the path of thevehicle, means operated bythe motor of the vehicle for actuating saidmechanism, said means including a vertical pivot means under the controlof the hphratdi for swin ing the mowin .nieehanism.h ca'i zontall intoandout operative position about 1ts vertical phret and relative to thevehicle, 7 I 1 2. The combination with amothr ropelled vehicle, of aplatform su ports in 1 platform vertically, a mc'wnthemes? frontthereof, means hinder the cor the operator for raising an low lmechanism connected t its center by a vertical pivot to the platform andextending laterally beyond the sides thereof, means for swinging saidelement about its pivot andina horizontal plane, and means operatedhythe motor of the vehicle for actuating said mechanism irrespective ofthe elevation of the plat-form or of its angle of adjustment.

3. T he combination with. a motor vehicle,

. of a platform supported in front thereof,

a mowing mechanism connected to the front end of the platform andincluding a sickle, drive mechanism operated by the motor, sai mechanismincluding a vertical shaft for transmitting power to the sickle and saidshaft constituting a guide for the platform,

and means for ralslng and lowering the platform.

4. The combination with a motor vehicle,

of a platform supported in front thereof, a.

mowing mechanism adjastaoly connected to the platform and lncludmg asickle, drive mechanism operated by the motor of the vehicle, saidmechanism including aver-- tical shaft for transmitting power to thesickle, said shaft constituting a guide for the platform, means forraising and lowering the platform along the guide.

5. The combination with motor vehicle, of a platform supported in frontthereof, a mowing mechanismv pivotally connected to the front end of theplatform and extending laterally thereheyond, said mechanism including asickle, means for holding said element against movement relative to theplatform, dr e means operated by the motor of the eucle, said meansincluding rerrlcai shaft for transmitting power to the ie, saio. shaftconstituting a guide for platform, meansunder the control of theoperator for raising and lowering the platform upon said guide, andmeans under the control of the operator for swinging the mowing elementrelative to the vehicle.

6. The combination with a'motor vehicle, of hangers depending therefrom,a connection between the hangers, a vertical shaft journaled at itslower end within said connection, a bearing for the upper end portion ofthe shaft, a platform slidably mounted on said shaft, means under thecontrol of the operator for raising and lowering the shaft, means forrotating the shaft independently of the platform, a mowing mechanismcarried hy the platform, and means for transmitting motion from saidshaft to the mowing mechanism.

7. The combination with a motor propelled vehicle, of a platform carriedby the front end thereof, means under the control of the operator forraising and lowering theplatform, a V-shaped deflecting shield upon theplatform, a mowing mechanism connect ed to the front end of the platformand em tending laterally therebeyond, means for transmitting motion tosaid mechanism from the motor of the vehicle, said means including avertical shaft constituting a guide for the platform.

- In testimony that I claim th foregoing as my own, I have heretoaffixed. my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN STANKUS.

-Witnesses A. B. G-onnsrmn,

J. GOODMAN.

